A mass shooting exposed Marathon County's need to add a 911 line. But where's the money?

Dispatcher Julie Ganski, 36, of Wausau, works on the city and county fire channel Monday afternoon, Jan. 19, 2015, at the Marathon County Sheriff’s Department in Wausau.(Photo: T'xer Zhon Kha/Daily Herald Media)Buy Photo

WAUSAU – Marathon County leaders are looking for money to add a new 911 dispatch channel to fix a growing problem of radio traffic jams, especially during major emergencies such as the mass shooting in 2017.

When the call center is overwhelmed, officers' safety can be at risk if they cannot communicate effectively, police officials said. Residents calling to report an emergency also might have a hard time getting through to a dispatcher.

Such was the case during a shooting rampage in March 2017 that left five people dead including an Everest Metro detective and the gunman, sheriff's Capt. Bill Millhausen said. On that day, some of the 911 calls never went through or were routed to Lincoln County.

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Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Bystanders watch as numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

A Rothschild police squad car parks in front of Marathon Savings Bank in Rothschild where the first shooting incident started. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Bystanders watch as numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Two siblings react to see their mother after police officers escorted them safely from the apartment complex Wednesday on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston.
T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Family members reunite after the police officers escorted them away from the standoff incident Wednesday on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston.
T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Bystanders watch as numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Bystanders watch as numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Numerous law enforcement vehicles and SWAT teams respond to shooter Wednesday at an apartment complex on the corner of Aspen Street and Ross Avenue in Weston. A police officer and at least three others were shot. T'xer Zhon Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

The need for a new dispatch channel was first discussed in 2007, after a study from the the Northwestern University Center for Public Safety found the dispatch channels were overwhelmed by an influx of calls as the county's law enforcement agencies and population continue to grow.

The Marathon County Sheriff's Office and the Wausau Police Department both have their own channels. The Wausau Fire Department and EMS service has its own channel and the rest of the county emergency services share another. Smaller police agencies throughout the county, including Everest Metro, Rothschild, Kronenwetter, Mosinee, Marathon City, Edgar, Athens, Stratford and Spencer, all share one channel, known as Sheriff 1. There is also one channel used for traffic stops, drug interdiction and backup.

In 2017, Northwestern University conducted another study in the county and found that many of the same issues identified in the 2007 report remained 10 years later, primarily the need for an additional dispatch channel. The channel would be exclusively for police agencies in Kronenwetter, Everest Metro and Rothschild.

Since the original study in 2007, the county has added 34 new law enforcement officers, 19 of those to the Sheriff 1 channel. According to U.S. Census data, the population of Marathon County has grown by around 10,000 people from 2000 to 2017.

The influx of new residents has coincided with an increase in emergency calls. Between 2013 and 2016, the number of calls increased from about 153,000 to nearly 161,000, according to the 2017 study.

Marathon County Sheriff Scott Parks said the channel hasn't come to fruition because there hasn't been enough money to fund it. But pressure is mounting.

"The majority of our law enforcement police chiefs have contacted me or even the county board that they want to have this additional channel because of the lack of service for their departments," the sheriff said.

The price tag of starting a new channel is around $350,000, Marathon County Administrator Brad Karger said, mostly to pay the six new dispatchers it would take to staff the channel 24/7.

Millhausen, the sheriff's captain, said the county already has the equipment to start the new channel and would just need to move an antenna from Everest Metro to Rib Mountain.

The Sheriff 1 channel is the most used in the county, according to data in the report. In 2016, more than one-quarter of all calls dispatched through the 911 center, or nearly 35,000 total calls, went through that channel.

"We're trying to handle the same area with a lot more calls for services and with a lot more officers than originally planned for," Kronenwetter Police Chief Terry McHugh said.

McHugh said problems begin to arise when multiple departments are trying to handle different emergencies at the same time. In that situation, officers have to wait for airtime, or sometimes end up talking over one another, which can confuse dispatchers.

"It's an officer safety issue if you can't get on the air because there’s too much radio traffic," McHugh said.

Residents would also benefit from an additional police channel, McHugh and Millhausen said.

For example, in a medical emergency, an extra line would make it easier for an officer to call dispatchers to send an ambulance so the victim can get treated more quickly.

Millhausen said when multiple people are calling 911 at once, such as after a traffic collision on an icy morning commute or a big windstorm that knocks down trees or power lines, dispatchers are unable to answer every call right away.

Parks said the sheriff's office is working with the Marathon County Board to come up with the money to pay for the new channel.

An idea surfaced at board meetings that closing the secure juvenile detention center in Wausau would save the county enough money to fund the channel. However, the county is trying to avoid closing the center, and instead is recruiting neighboring municipalities to sign contracts to send their kids to the Wausau facility. That would increase the revenue brought in by the facility and could raise enough to cover the cost of the channel.

Karger said the county is going to work through the end of March to try to fill the juvenile jail and increase revenue. After that, county officials may seriously consider shuttering the facility.

"We will continue to find ways to serve our partners the best way we possibly can and look for new revenue sources to assist the county board in making this happen," Parks said.

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